Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind.(Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last.(Friends of Israel Initiative)

Friday, 30 January 2015

The London Jewish News is a popular and deserving competitor to Anglo-Jewry's supposed newspaper of record, the Jewish Chronicle.

It carries a report regarding Stephen Sizer's despicable action in linking to a grossly antisemitic article that laid the blame for 9/11 on Israel and a number of named Jews (I posted about this here).

The report, out today, tells that, following overtures from Mr Jonathan Arkush, vice-president of the British Board of Deputies, Sizer has removed that link.

Posted on 20 January (as shown at right) the link to the article (see my above-mentioned post for that) remained on Facebook for over a week, attracting a total of 60 comments, many of them antisemitic, and at least two "shares". Disturbingly, not one of Sizer's followers suggested to him in those comments that the post should be taken down.

The London Jewish News quotes Mr Arkush, a London barrister, thus:

“Posting, and giving approval to, an article which in effect accuses
Jews of responsibility for the 9/11 atrocity is unquestionably
anti-Semitic, just as it is beyond absurd...."

It reports that while Mr Arkush has "welcomed" Sizer's removal of the link, Mr Arkush also notes that he is

“extremely concerned that a Church of England
minister could possibly have considered it appropriate or becoming to
his position to advertise such racist nonsense”

and that Mr Arkush observes

“The church should be
taking action. He is one of their ministers. It should not be left to
the Jewish community to have to protest and be forced to take action
from outside.”

Sizer reportedly told the paper via email when contacted by them:

“I would welcome articles you can recommend refuting the allegations.”

The paper goes on:

'Noting that many Americans feel 9/11 was “an inside job,” Sizer added: “It is essential the public become convinced of what happened before and after 9/11. Inevitably the truth will upset many people if it is shown by further investigation that the official explanations are shown to be deficient.” He added: “Encouraging research and debate on all aspects of [9/11] is not anti- Semitic… Suppressing discussion on such grounds will fuel suspicion, not remove it.”...' [My emphasis]

The Times of London, most of it behind a paywall, and similarly misdating the link:

From the Daily Telegraph inter alia:

'The Bishop of Dorking, the Right Revd Ian Brackley, said the Diocese
of Guildford, which includes Dr Sizer’s Virginia Water parish, is
urgently investigating.

“I want to reassure everyone that we are taking this complaint extremely seriously,” he said.

“Immediate steps are being taken to investigate and we are in contact with Dr Sizer as well as the Board of Deputies.”

A spokesman for the Church of England added: “These comments would rightly be seen as unacceptable whenever they were posted.

“It is a matter of deep sorrow and shame that they have been posted in this week of all weeks.

“The Diocese of Gui[d]lford, where the Rev Sizer is licensed, is taking immediate steps to investigate ....

But Dr Sizer was unrepentant. He told The Telegraph: “I was encouraging debate, I was neither saying Israel did it or that they didn’t.”

He added: “I think they are trying to discredit me – they have tried several times to do that and they have seized on one little link to an article.

“With hindsight I wouldn’t have put it on [Facebook] if I had known it was going to happen.”...' [My emphasis]

(Incidentally, I contacted the Jewish Chronicle not long after I first saw Sizer's post of 20 January and blogged about it. They could have had a scoop. However, "the organ of Anglo-Jewry" was not interested in reporting about it, nor did their reporter ever, as far as I can tell, tweet it, as he told me he might. Poor show, JC. Very poor show.)

Thursday, 29 January 2015

Yorkshire-born Anglo-Jewish actress, writer, and humorist Maureen Lipman, an outspoken champion of Israel, was born the year following the end of the Second World War (although for reasons better known to itself the Daily Mail gives her age as 71).

On a north London pavement

Like her contemporaries, the woman often described as a "British National Treasure" grew up during a time when antisemitism appeared to have virtually expired, as people contemplated the unparallelled genocidal wickedness to which antisemitism led.

Today, of course, antisemitism has proved, both in Britain and other parts of Europe, that it was not at death's door but only slumbering after all, and none too deeply at that.

Maureen Lipman, in an interview with LBC Radio on Holocaust Memorial Day, has revealed that the rise in antisemitic incidents in Britain in recent months has not only left her "very depressed" but has alarmed her enough to consider moving to New York or Israel:

“When the going gets tough, the Jews get packing. It’s crossed my mind that it’s time to have a look around for another place to live....

My kids are very bored with me. But it is only in the last
few months that they have to begun to say: ‘Mum, you may have
something’....

When the economy dries up, then they turn on the usual scapegoat: the usual suspect – the Jew.

There is one school of thought that says it’s because of Israeli policies in the West Bank – it isn’t. There’s been antisemitism for the past 4,000 years....

There are 245,000 Jews in the country. What’s to fear? We don’t proselytise, we don't fly planes into buildings, we generally keep on the right side of the law.... We give and give and give ...’

Stephen Spielberg, too, spoke out on Holocaust Memorial Day on burgeoning antisemitism.

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

A not inappropriate follow-up to my previous post, here's Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, whose parents migrated from India and embraced the values of their new country, warning that immigrants who move to America with no intention of subscribing to its democratic values based on the Judeo-Christian ethos pose a threat to the nation in the same way as such immigration poses a threat to western Europe:

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

".... Today we bow our heads in memory of the victims in Paris. However, as representatives of an ancient and proud people, we stand tall against evil because we can overcome it. "The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread" – because truth and justice are on our side. And here is the truth: Our shared enemy is Radical Islam, not Islam and not just radicals – Radical Islam. This form of Islam has many names: ISIS, Hamas, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, al-Shabab, Hezbollah; but they are all branches from the same poison tree.

Although the various factions of Radical Islam are given to local bloody conflicts, including amongst themselves, they all share the same aspiration: To impose a dark tyranny on the world, to return humanity one thousand years to the past. They trample anyone who does not share their path, first and foremost their Muslim brothers, but their greatest hatred is saved for Western culture, that same culture that respects freedom and equal rights – all the things they so despise.

For this reason it is not a coincidence that Radical Islam has sought to destroy Israel from the very day it declared its independence: Because Israel is the only Western democracy in the Middle East, because Israel is the only place that is truly safe for Christians, women, minorities, that respects all human rights.Well, here is another truth: Radical Islam does not hate the West because of Israel. It hates Israel because it is an organic part of the West. It rightly views Israel as an island of Western democracy and tolerance in an ocean of fanaticism and violence that it wishes to impose on the Middle East, Europe and the entire world.

Israel is not under attack because of this or that detail of its policies, but rather because of its very existence and nature. But we are not the only ones under attack. Look around you: The entire world is under attack, the entire world – the Twin Towers in New York, the subways in London and Madrid, tourists in Bali, students at schools in Russia and Pakistan, a hotel in Mumbai, the mall in Nairobi."

So said Bibi Netanyahu during his stirring speech at the Grand Synagogue, Paris, following the .Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher killing spree.

On "Meet The Press" on Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough explains why the phrase "Radical Islam", which of course Bibi uses several times there, is best avoided:

'The head of BBC Arabic has instructed editors not to use the word "terrorist" to describe the Islamist gunmen who murdered 12 people at the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

Tarik Kafala told the UK's Independent newspaper that the term "terrorist" is too "loaded," and said the decision was in-line with the BBC's overall policy on reporting such attacks.

"We try to avoid describing anyone as a terrorist or an act as being terrorist. What we try to do is to say that 'two men killed 12 people in an attack on the office of a satirical magazine'. That’s enough, we know what that means and what it is," said Kafala.

"Terrorism is such a loaded word," he added. "The UN has been struggling for more than a decade to define the word and they can’t. It is very difficult to. We know what political violence is, we know what murder, bombings and shootings are and we describe them. That’s much more revealing, we believe, than using a word like terrorist which people will see as value-laden." ....

Although Kafala's statement came as a surprise to some, the refusal by the BBC to use the word "terrorist" has long been a point of contention, particularly in its coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict....

However, while consistently reticent about referring to individuals as "terrorists," some have noted that while some attacks - including those against Charlie Hebdo - are often referred to as "terror attacks" or "terrorist attacks", equally brutal attacks against Israeli targets are simply referred to using the the more "neutral" term "militant attacks."'

Sunday, 25 January 2015

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

There are some 60 States in the American-led coalition pledged to degrading and destroying Islamic State – but only 21 – regarded as “key members” were at the Conference in London on 22 January – which UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond described in these terms:

“Today, 21 key members of the global coalition met in London to review and discuss our efforts to degrade and defeat ISIL not just through military force, but by addressing the underlying narrative of the organization, its financing, its flow of foreign fighters, and by reasserting our commitment to Iraq. In total, over 60 countries have signed up to the global coalition, showing the international will and commitment to combat this threat.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry was at pains to clarify why the other 39 States had not joined the talk-fest:

“And all the coalition partners are continuing to make vital contributions .., and we mean all 60. Whether it’s sheltering refugees, training, advising Iraqi troops on the front lines, or speaking out against Daesh’s [Islamic State – Ed.] hateful, false ideology, we appreciate the contribution of every single member, each of whom has chosen one line of effort or another.

But we also recognize the need to, as effectively as possible, be able to coordinate all of these contributions. And that’s what the small group that came here today set out to do. The small group will continue to meet on a regular basis and continue, obviously, to consult with the full 60 members of the coalition, who will meet again as a full membership.”

The non-participation of the world’s remaining 133 States in the American-led coalition did not escape Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s attention – as he wryly noted:

“Daesh is a terrorist organization. It knows no race, no religion, no region. It spares nobody, so everybody must be facing Daesh.”

Al-Abadi was therefore being more than a little cynical when he stated:

“that Iraq is not alone, the Iraqi people are not alone, but the entire world stands with Iraq”

One can only ask: why then are these 133 reluctant States not members of the American-led coalition? Are they prepared to let the other 60 States do the heavy lifting for them whilst they just sit by and watch? Will they only be motivated to join the American-led coalition when Islamic State comes knocking at their door?

Pointedly, the Joint Press Availability with UK Foreign Secretary Hammond and Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi – issued by the US State Department following the London Conference – made no mention of any discussion having taken place at the Conference concerning Yemen’s dramatic cave-in this week – resulting in the resignation of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi after having being held captive following a concerted assault waged by Houthi rebels.

Yemen had been allowing the United States to wage counter-terror drone strike operations targeting Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from Yemen’s sovereign territory.

Membership of Al-Qaeda and Islamic State was respectively claimed by the perpetrators of two horrific massacres in Paris last week at the offices of publisher Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher supermarket – resulting in the murder of seventeen people whilst putting France on a state of highest alert to counter any further possible terrorist attacks in their wake.

The events in Yemen represent a spectacular collapse of President Obama’s policy for similarly countering Islamic State in Iraq – by training supplying and using Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State on the ground whilst the coalition counters Islamic State from the air.

President Obama laid out this policy on 10 September 2014 – citing Yemen as an example of how that policy was working:

“Now, it will take time to eradicate a cancer like ISIL. And any time we take military action, there are risks involved –- especially to the servicemen and women who carry out these missions. But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years. And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year: to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.”

“Another issue, which is being discussed today, is the fiscal problem for Iraq. You know oil prices have dropped to about 40 percent of their level last year. Iraqi economy and budget relies 85 percent on oil, and this has been disastrous for us…

… We don’t want to see a reverse of our military victory because of our budget and fiscal problems and we have been assured that every member of this coalition will stand with Iraq in its fight against Da’esh “

How long will it take Obama to understand that Islamic State can only be comprehensively defeated by military action undertaken on the ground by a properly equipped and authorised United Nations international force?

Saturday, 24 January 2015

The Scottish city of Dundee has the distinction of being Gorgeous George's birthplace and cradle, and it was under Gorgeous George's influence that, getting on for 40 years ago, its council chamber became the first in all of (post-)Christendom to fly the Palestinian flag. And not long afterwards the city twinned with Nablus.

Anyway, remember Gorgeous George's bombastic declaration last August that the Yorkshire city of Bradford is and must be an Israel-free zone, sans Israeli goods, sans Israeli academics, sans Israeli tourists, sans Israeli everything?

Well, how pleasing to learn on the grapevine (hat tip: reader P) that Israeli peppers are doing a brisk trade in Bradford, as, it seems, elsewhere.

Yep, this is a pack of three – one red, one orange, and one green – at Morrison's:

And not surprisingly the usual suspects are getting all – well –peppery over it.

Dubai-based Mr Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, general manager of Al-Arabiya television, former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, and a
leading Arabic weekly magazine, as well as a well-known columnist on two Arabic dailies, has written the following article in Asarq al-Awsat entitled "How Did We End Up Cheering For Israel?":

Many have welcomed with cheers the sudden Israeli strike on Sunday that killed six Hezbollah members and a general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who, for some reason, were secretly present in Syria’s Quneitra region.

The cheering for this act on social networking platforms is an expression of anger and indignation, and we’ve even sensed these feelings expressed by sympathizers with Islamist groups.

This represents a huge change of feelings about Hezbollah, due to its heinous actions in targeting its rivals in Lebanon and its involvement in the killing of thousands in Syria. Many of those who have shifted from admiring Hezbollah to hating the group did so in less than a decade.

These people used to support Hezbollah in Lebanon in the past and they used to adopt the Shi’ite group’s political and military agenda. Anger began to surface when Hezbollah’s militias occupied west Beirut during the events of May 7, 2008, three years after the party’s involvement in the assassination of Sunni leader Rafik Hariri.

Hezbollah, and also Iran, have lost the respect and status they’ve always enjoyed in the name of Islam, Lebanon and Palestine. Hezbollah’s biggest fall came after its clear sectarian bias in Syria emerged when its members joined the terrible war there, which has killed more than 250,000 people in what is surely the most shameful crime in the history of the region. Iranian involvement in Syria will also have further repercussions.

In my opinion there’s no doubt that if a confrontation occurs between Israel and Hezbollah, or between Israel and Iran, many Arabs will pray for the defeat of Hezbollah’s militias and the generals of its Iranian ally. This strange feeling, even if temporary, reflects the change in the region’s alliances and political stances.

The hatred held by many Arabs towards Iran and Hezbollah does not necessarily mean they have suddenly developed affection for Israel—that’s another story. Perhaps this would happen in the event of the brokering of a Palestinian–Israeli peace accord that garners more popular acceptance than before.

In case a regional struggle happens, like an Arab struggle with Iran, and Israel is an apparent party in the Arab camp, people will, I believe, turn a blind eye to a temporary alliance under the principle of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend.” Once again, this does not mean that Israel will be accepted by Arabs on the popular level—unless there is a peace deal with the Palestinians.

We are in a now in a phase where the map and alliances drawn of after 1948 are in transition, and the struggles and hostilities in the region may be shifted in a totally different direction. Iran and Hezbollah may be on the side of the Jewish state if a nuclear agreement is signed with the West that satisfies Israel, which is now considered an obstacle due to its strict stance against American concessions to the Iranians.

In case of a US insistence on reaching an agreement with Iran that angers Israel, the latter could realign itself towards Arab countries to achieve the necessary regional balance. Israel is currently participating, from a distance, alongside an alliance that’s publicly pressuring the administration of Barack Obama against offering any concessions in negotiations with Tehran; however, we can’t count on the formation of an Israeli–Gulf alliance because Israeli disputes with the Arabs of the Gulf regarding Palestine and Syria are not only serious and numerous, but will also be difficult to overcome.

For current developments regarding Israel, Hezbollah and Iran see here

Somewhat off-topic: I admit I haven't had time to look at all of this video regarding Palestinian terror and American campus hate against Israel. But in view of yesterday's outrage in Tel Aviv I've decided to put it on:

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

On Facebook, the anti-Israel Anglican vicar of Virginia Water continues to sail close to the wind, as far as antisemitism is concerned.

We have already seen how the vicar is not above posting links to conspiracy theories regarding Israel and the attack on the Twin Towers (as notedhere, for instance, and as discussed here) and now comes this post, which links to a truly vile article that would do Goebbels proud and must have every Jew-hater who reads it reacting orgasmically:

Unabashed, some of the vicar's anti-Israel Facebook friends have already lost little time in reacting positively:

(Update: there are so far 53 comments; the Board of Deputies and the Bishop of Guildford, and perhaps the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, need to see what Sizer has unleashed by that despicable post of his.)

"Is this antisemitic?" indeed.

Does Sizer really have to ask?

Does this man of the cloth not recognise raw Jew-hatred when he sees it?

And if not, why not?

(UPDATE: That above-mentioned post linking to that despicable article, which attracted 60 comments in all from Sizer's followers, none of them suggesting that he take the post down, and with at least two shares, has vanished from Facebook, as of 28-29 January. Sizer himself is at present in East Africa.)

Apart from that excursion into the dunghill, the vicar continues to post obsessively, as always, about Israel, and in the process sometimes has a little dig at da Joos, but the above link surely marks a particularly low point in the long-running Sizer saga. With it, he has surely reneged on his undertaking to the Board made in 2013.

Note the Freudian slip!:

Incidentally, Sizer, who's no stranger to Iran's satellite propaganda channel Press TV, now has a new broadcasting outlet. It's the London-based Iraqi Al Etejah English language TV station. Its Facebook page gives the station's flavour but I don't know who funds the channel (I wish I did).

"...It is supported by the Hezbollah Brigades. It has both an Arabic and an English version named "Aletejah TV English" which is being broadcast on multiple European satellites such as Hot Bird."

The linked article to the Hezbollah brigades says, inter alia, with footnotes provided:

"Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) or Hezbollah Battalions is a Shi'a Iraqi Insurgent group which has been active since 4 months before the beginning of the Iraq War (although their first attack was on October 2003), not to be confused with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. It is said to be an offshoot of the "Special Groups", which are the Iranian backed elements of the Mahdi Army. Katai'b Hezbollah is a separate and independent organization and not part of the Mahdi Army and its Special Groups. According to the American forces it receives funding, training, logistics, and material from Iran's Quds Force, claims which are denied by Iran. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to Iran's Quds Force is known to be a senior adviser to Kata'ib Hezbollah. The US state department has also claimed Hezbollah provided weapons and training for the group. The group is known for uploading its videos of attacks on American forces on the internet...."

In Summer 2008 US and Iraqi Forces launched a crackdown against Kata'ib Hezbollah (and the Special Groups). At least 30 of its members were captured during those months. Many of the group's leaders were captured and us officials claim that "as result much of the leadership fled to Iran".

On 2 July 2009 the group was added to the "U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations". The group is held responsible for numerous IED bombings, mortar, rocket and RPG attacks as well as sniper operations, targeting US and Iraqi Forces and the Green Zone, including a November 2008 rocket attack that killed two U.N. workers....

On 21 July 2010 Iran is supporting three Shiite groups in Iraq that have been attempting to attack US bases, General Ray Odierno said. Kata'ib Hezbollah is one of these groups and the other groups are Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous), and the Promised Day Brigades...."

Tuesday, 20 January 2015

Well did the great communicator make that point in the magnificent speech he made, to rapturous applause, at the Grand Synagogue in Paris.

This past weekend, in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba, a speech of a rather different complexion took place at a "public event" held by the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. Here's part of its flyer advertising the event:

It seems, from his account of the "public event", that reporter Bryan Seymour, who attended on behalf of Channel Seven, was left under no illusion that the organisers welcomed his presence.

"Around 200 men and another 50 women and children, behind a curtain at
the back[my emphasis, for this was a secular event], attended," he tells us inter alia.

'Australia's democratic government has to go in favour of an Islamic Caliphate ruled by Sharia Law.

"....[You] have no state, no authority, you have no representation ...! But be brave when we have authority! Come forward when we have a representation with an army! Ready to defend the honour of Allah and his Messenger.... And that's what we have to understand,” ....

His message was met by cries of “Takbir... Allahu Akbar!” ....'

In most of the Middle East, Hizb ut-Tahrir is a proscribed organisation, but not in Australia or the dear old Motherland. Its major conferences (like the one at right) in Australia attract delegates and speakers from abroad.

As the Sydney Morning Heraldexplained at the time of one of its conferences

(in 2011):

'The group is proscribed in Germany for anti-Semitism, and Russia declared it a criminal organisation in 1999.

There have been unsuccessful calls to ban the group in Britain and Australia.

Wassim Kabbara, 33, said he had come to the conference as a ''litmus test for me … to see what these guys are doing versus what the West is trying to do''. He agreed with themes at the conference that ''Islam and democracy do not come together''.

The keynote speaker, Dr Mohammad Jeelani, said the West had decided to ''plant a cancer in the Muslim world'', and that cancer was the state of Israel.

The group openly rejects democratic government and tells Muslims in Australia to boycott elections.'

Still, it seems from the rest of Bryan Seymour's report that, albeit in fits and starts like the dozy dormouse at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, the Aussie authorities might be waking up.

Read and see more of Channel Seven's report (including a video report) here.

Hat tip to Jean Vercors (to whom I owe the "Je Suis Israel" in my sidebar) for this not inapt cartoon:

Please don't miss the previous post, by David Singer, on the fallout from the Charlie Hebdo tragedy. Following on from that post, here are Palestinian Islamists with some chilling messages (hat tip: Vlad Tepes blog):

More (hat tip Vlad Tepes) from Gaza, this outside the French Cultural Centre there:

(This article concerns an IS cell practising beheading skills by decapitating live animals in preparation for an attack on Israeli Druze: Vlad Tepes links to it but I chose not to look.)

Meanwhile:

As an added bonus here's Bradford "Respect Party" MP Gorgeous George, with many a denunciation of Israel as usual, declaring at an anti-Charlie Hebdo rally in his constituency that "The proper job of a satirist... is to hold the rich and powerful to account", inveighing against widespread "Islamophobia", and vowing to agitate in Parliament for the outlawing of insults to "The Prophets":

Monday, 19 January 2015

Here's a video showing leftists and Muslims in Paris demonstrating against "Islamophobia" (and, ils disent, antisemitism) in the wake of the recent atrocities in Paris. The Palestinian flag is much in evidence, as are denunciations of Israel:

And here, entitled "CharlieHebdomania Plunges World Into Whirlpool Of Islamic Violence", is the latest post by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

The
sale of seven million copies of the magazine Charlie Hebdo featuring a
front page cartoon depicting an image purporting to be that of Muhammad
has brought forth its first bloody response from the Islamic world –
Niger – where reportedly three people have been killed and six churches
attacked and looted.

Graffiti on the French cultural centre in Gaza (Elder of Ziyon blog has more)

Riots and protests in Algeria, Somalia, Pakistan
and Jordan [see also my previous post - D.A.] have added fuel to the rapidly growing feeling of resentment
and hostility that Charlie Hebdo has inflamed.

Niger's President , Mahamadou Issoufou, was one of six African heads of state who
attended the unity march in Paris last Sunday in the aftermath of the
horrific massacres in the offices of Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher
supermarket - that saw 17 people murdered in cold blood by terrorists
identifying themselves with Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.

Niger,
Algeria, Somalia, Pakistan and Jordan are all members of the 57 States
comprising the Organisation of Islamic Co-Operation. President Issoufou
– reacting to the outbreak of the violence in Niger
– angrily declared:

"Those who loot these places of worship, who desecrate them and
kill their Christian compatriots... have understood nothing of Islam"

“Understanding
nothing of Islam” could however be equally applied to those seven
million readers (with possibly still more to come) who eagerly snapped
up the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo – a publication that normally
sells 60000 copies – supposedly in support of the right of “freedom of
expression” – as proclaimed by French President Francois Hollande:

“…France has principles and values, in particular freedom of expression."

Hollande
had apparently abandoned the moral high ground he initially took on
January 7 – following the attack on Charlie Hebdo – when he gave this
response:

“France is in shock – the shock of an attack, because
it’s a terrorist attack, there’s no doubt about that – against a
newspaper that had already been threatened on several occasions and had
consequently been under protection. At such times, we must stand
together as one, show that we are a united country and that we can react
properly, with firmness, but always with concern for national unity. “

Shooting
civilians in cold blood in their offices and in a supermarket needed to
be condemned and swiftly ended. No State can possibly permit such
conduct within its borders nor can any such conduct be justified on any
grounds whatsoever – no matter who or what is the target.

But was
cocking your nose an appropriate response to the sensitivities and
feelings of 1.4 billion Moslems around the world – 4.7 million of whom
were estimated in 2010 by the Pew Report to live in France and comprise
7.5 per cent of France’s population – by publishing another depiction of
Muhammad contrary to what many Moslems believe to be the precepts of
Islam?

Hollande seems to be whistling even further into the wind when he
proclaims:

"There are tensions abroad where people don't understand our
attachment to the freedom of speech. We've seen the protests, and I
would say that in France all beliefs are respected."

How can Hollande
claim that France respects all beliefs when his own prime minister is
photographed holding a copy of the front page of the latest Charlie
Hebdo magazine leaving the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysée Palace
in Paris?

There surely is a big difference in supporting the
freedom of expression whilst at the same time disagreeing strenuously
with the views those people are expressing.

Would the better
response have been to leave those seven million copies on the newsstand
shelves unsold and its contents condemned for fuelling racial hatred?

Jewish
citizens of France certainly don’t believe Hollande and have been
voting with their feet in increasing numbers – following more than 20 antisemitic incidents – some fatal – committed against French Jews in
the last twelve months. 7000 Jews left France and emigrated to Israel
during that period. Those Jews still remaining will view the following words of French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on 21 November 2014
last year with utter cynicism and disbelief after last week’s horror at
the kosher supermarket:

“Every time you feel the violence
exercised against you, when you are afraid for your children, when you
are worried about this rising violence, remind yourselves that the
republic protects you and [you have] an interior minister who loves you
and who is your friend”

Hollande’s unity march – led by more
than 40 international leaders locking arms in solidarity – should have
concentrated solely on calling for the eradication of those responsible
for the terrorist attacks – Islamic State and Al-Qaeda – rather than
marching ahead of a sea of “Je suis Charlie” banners hoisted defiantly
aloft behind them.

Collective international military action is
undoubtedly needed to degrade and destroy these enemies of humankind
engaging in unimaginable acts of violence all around the world and
threatening its peace and security – including groups such Boko Haram,
Jabhat Al-Nusra, Taliban, Hamas and Hezbollah.

The message should
be clear and unyielding – no state will tolerate under any
circumstances the deliberate targeting of its civilians for any reasons
whatsoever.

Hollande’s march should have been just the first
stage of a world unity march by all world leaders to the United Nations
in New York – demanding the passing of a Resolution by the UN Security
Council to take military action against Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

Until
193 world states identify and eradicate their common enemies, CharlieHebdomania will remain an incurable illness with frightening
consequences.

Terror Groups Eyeing Israel's Destruction from inside NGOs

Two stalwarts go sleuthing:

For their findings cliick on image

"The research suggests that antisemitism is the fuel that primes the PSC engine"

To read the research report click on image

'For as long as these antisemites wrap themselves up in the Palestinian flag, too many people are willing to turn a blind eye. Only against Jews is this type of racism openly tolerated. It is flourishing in schools, colleges, universities, unions and in city councils. In fact, so rampant is the disease now, in some settings you can be ostracised if you do not partake in the frenzy yourself. Bashing Jews has becomes a trendy position for the ignorant social justice warrior. "Palestinianism" is a viral "ponzi scheme" and as it spreads, it carries antisemitism in the undergrowth.' David Collier (2017)

'This new rise in antisemitism, which I had thought long dead, was not shaven-headed white imbeciles from the far right. It was Muslims, a large chunk of it.... Suddenly I grasped that the British far left didn’t want people to know about antisemitism because it pointed the finger at people they really, really liked. From that moment on, it all fell into place.... Time and again the same tropes emerged, the same sort of stuff that Streicher and Goebbels would have commended – and uttered.... And from that a whole bunch of other stuff emerged: the old blood libel business (a favourite of the repulsive Jenny Tonge).... Nice, avuncular, Jeremy Corbyn, with his peace badges, happily laying a wreath at the graveside of Palestinian terrorists who murdered innocent Jewish athletes, oh, and much much more.... It is the same antisemitism, exactly the same: the obsession with Israel to the exclusion of everything else, the conspiracy theory paranoias, the derangement.... Here’s the test – if you cannot see the flagrant racism in the BDS movement, and if you are obsessed with the perfidy of the Middle East’s only democracy to the exclusion of all else, you are an antisemite. That means a good proportion of the Labour Party, including the leader, and almost all of Momentum: no brown shirts, no marching bands, but the same old filth, dressed in the clothes of a polytechnic geography lecturer.'Rod Liddle (2018)

Pro-Israel Down Under

Shalom and Welcome to my blog!I'm the little Aussie blogger who took the screenshot and broke the story of Stephen Sizer's notorious 9/11 post, and I've since broken two other stories that subsequently went viral, one Australia-wide and one, thanks to the sterling work of two other bloggers, worldwide. I remain very surprised and very honoured to have been co-winner, Best Pro-Israel Blog, Hasby Awards, 2013Please "Like" me on Facebook; my Facebook page ishere

'In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel ... is different.... Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.... Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East.' Bibi Netanyahu (20 Iyar 5771; 24 May 2011)Scroll to end for more quotations

Tired of anti-Balfour agitprop?

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Balfour and Beyond

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Try this for Sizer

Sizer 101. Click image for link

'Before the June 1967 Six Day War, there were no such things as "settlements". Palestinians were trying to destroy and displace Israel anyhow. The core problem is not, and never was, "settlements," but the right of Israel (or any non-Muslim nation) to exist inside any borders in that part of the world.If you take a stand that is based on a lie, then that stand cannot succeed. If you try to oppose antisemitism but pretend it is the same thing as "Islamophobia," then the structure on which you have made your stand will totter and all your aspirations will fail. If you try to make a stand based on the idea that settlement construction rather than the intransigence of the Palestinians to the existence of a Jewish state is what is holding up a peace deal, then facts will keep on intruding.' Douglas Murray (31 December 2016)https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9685/britain-little-lies

BDS is Antisemitic

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The Bigotry & Immorality of BDS

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'Islamophobia does NOT come from the same wellspring of hatred as antisemitism. Antisemitism is a true prejudice because the hatred and demonisation it promotes derive entirely from lies and a repudiation of rationality itself. Islamophobia is a false allegation of prejudice which is deployed to silence rational criticism based on actual facts about attitudes and practices within the Islamic world. [L]ethally compromised even-handedness is to misunderstand, and thus minimise, antisemitic attitudes and behaviour while shutting down legitimate and necessary discussion of the threat from the Islamic world – even to demonise as “Islamophobic” anyone who draws attention to the extent and consequences of Muslim antisemitism.' Melanie Phillips (14 December 2016)

"Selling a house to a Jew is a betrayal of Allah"

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Maps of Mendacity & Mischief

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These misleading maps were deliberately prepared to date from 1946 – intentionally papering over the momentous events that had occurred between 1917 and 1945. Attempts to unravel binding precepts of international law established between 1917 and 1945 – and failing to insist on their being upheld and enforced – has a lot to do with the sorry situation the world finds itself in today.David Singer (2016)

How They Twist the Truth!

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Jews have re-assumed the role of the canary in the mine and are the first to be targeted, but the world would face the same threat if Jews did not exist. Israel has been at the front lines confronting Islamic extremism but has received scant support... For Jews, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. The virulence of the antisemitic hatred closing in on Jews in Europe (and elsewhere) is horrifying... Europe is today facing a crisis as serious as the confrontation with Nazism. If Western leaders continue behaving like Chamberlain and fail to stand up to this global threat, it could usher in a new Dark Age in which the Judeo-Christian culture is subsumed by primitive barbarism. The writing is on the wall Isi Leibler (12 January 2015)

Expose The Lies!

There is a war of lies and deceit on the internet generating unbelievable hate by denigrating and delegitimising the legal rights conferred on the Jewish people by the League of Nations in 1922 and the United Nations in 1945. The idea that there are two narratives on the Arab-Jewish conflict is rubbish. There is only one – the factual truth that details the return of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in its ancient biblical, ancestral and historic homeland after 3500 years of dispersion with the unanimous endorsement of the nation states then comprising the League of Nations.... Generals can’t fight a war without soldiers. Jews around the world need to join the fight or vacate the internet to the Jew-haters and their lies that repeated often enough eventually become accepted as truth.David Singer (2016)

Exposing Lies

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The "Apartheid" Slur

The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas “A”, “B” and “C” was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area “A”. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation – and subjugation – by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance. The narratives did not begin in 1948 – they began in about 1917. How do you make peace with an enemy that has been obsessed with not recognising any Jewish national rights in former Palestine for the last 100 years?David Singer (2016)

Telling the Truth

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The Jews of the Holy Land ... are surrounded by hostile states 650 times their territory and sixty times their population. Yet their last, best hope of ending two millennia of international persecution - the State of Israel - has somehow survived. When, during the Second World War, the island of Malta came through three terrible years of bombardment and destruction, it was rightly awarded the George Cross for bravery. Today, Israel should be awarded a similar decoration for defending democracy, tolerance and Western values against a murderous onslaught that has lasted twenty times as long.Andrew Roberts (historian)

A voice of courage & reason

He knows, y'know

An Aussie demo against BDS

On the left, black people are usually allowed to define what’s racism; women can define sexism; Muslims are trusted to define Islamophobia. But when Jews call out something as antisemitic, leftist non-Jews feel curiously entitled to tell Jews they’re wrong, that they are exaggerating or lying or using it as a decoy tactic – and to then treat them to a long lecture on what anti-Jewish racism really is. Jonathan Freedland (The Guardian, 29 April 2016)

An awkward fact for some!

Socialist thought was tainted from its very origins with the heavy baggage of anti-Jewish stereotypes. Robert Wistrich, From Ambivalence to Betrayal:The Left, the Jews, and Israel (2012)

BDS hypocrisy!

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Want more?

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Israel is understandably obsessed with security, but its greatest security lies ultimately not in the Israeli Defence Forces, but in political warfare.... Most of the world is not deeply interested in what happens in Israel, and probably does not want to be deluged with legalistic defences of particular actions. What it wants is a clear, calm, repeated case. It is a case – aimed more at public opinion than at foreign ministries – about freedom, democracy, a Western way of life and the need for the whole of the free world to fight terrorism. Sometimes you hear Israelis say: “It doesn’t matter what we say. The whole world is against us.” You can see why they say it, for they are indeed unfairly treated. But when they say it, they are uttering a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they won’t say what needs saying, no one else will say it for them. Charles Moore (2010)

Once again the armies of the Arab nations are coordinating their military efforts to destroy Israel - whatever they say about wishing merely to regain the lost territories.... [I]f the present Arab offensive had been launched at the pre-1967 frontiers, then the Israelis would indeed have been fighting to avoid annihilation. It seems now that the Israelis were right to maintain the ceasefire lines gained in 1967, and that to do so is the only guarantee of their continued safety.Alan Sillitoe (The Times, 11 October 1973)

A nuclear Iran threatens our existence

Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam... In this deadly game of thrones, there’s no place for America or for Israel, no place for Christians, Jews or Muslims who don’t share the Islamist medieval creed, no rights for women, no freedom for anyone... [T]he greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We can’t let that happen...[T]he days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves....Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But ... I know that America stands with Israel... You stand with Israel, because you know that the story of Israel is not only the story of the Jewish people but of the human spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to history’s horrors. Bibi Netanyahu (12 Adar 5775; 3 March 2015)

The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions, of people, and there is no refugee problem.... [N]o one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.... Other nations - when they are defeated - survive and recover, but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.... [A]s it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us.Eric Hoffer (1968)

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אם תרצו , אין זו אגדה

Most of the present Arab countries were given their freedom after the 1914-18 War, or after the 1939-45 War.... Yet to listen to Arab spokesmen one might think that they had been cheated ... because they have not also got Israel. Israel is only .2 per cent of the land where Arab States have been established. Surely no fair-minded man can begrudge the Jews their own promised land when it is remembered that for every 2 acres that went to make up Israel, 1,000 acres became Arab.... Why is there an Arab refugee problem? The oil-rich countries have the money. There is no shortage of land, and the Israelis have the technical knowledge to show how it could be developed and made fertile. Bring those things together and the problem could be solved. 3rd Earl of Balfour (1968)

January 7, 2015 has already its place in the history of infamy, but also will be the date when the defenders of freedom and democracy will rise and pay tribute to those who died for their freedom and ours. Therefore, we must not forget on which side we are and who are our allies in the defense of the West and its values. Whether we admit it or not, the West is at war with an enemy who will not stop to destroy us...The State of Israel boasts a commandment that, in one of the darkest hours in the fight for liberty Winston Churchill taught: "Never give up". Israel has proven to be a key ally in the fight against Islamism and also an example of how a liberal democracy can resist the jihadist stake and thrive as a Western nation ... Not only France but also all the West should look to Israel to defeat Islamism...friendsofisraelinitiative.org

[I]t’s impossible to believe that an active antisemite wouldn’t – if only opportunistically – seek out somewhere to nestle in the manifold pleats of Israel-bashing, whether in generally diffuse anti-Zionism, or in more specific Boycott and Divestment Campaigns, Israeli Apartheid Weeks, End the Occupation movements and the like....[T]ell me that not a single Jew-hater finds the activity congenial, that criticising Israel can “never” be an expression of Jew-hating, not even when it takes the form of accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs...Howard Jacobson (The Independent, 27 May 2013)

What has happened to the 800,000 Jews who lived for over 2000 years in the Arab lands ...? Where are they in Arab society today? You dare talk of racism when I can point with pride ... to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Chaim Herzog (6 Kislev 5736; 10 November 1975)

I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews.... I defend their right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time. And, disgusted by the antisemitism of many Europeans ... I am shamed by this shame that dishonours my country and Europe.Oriana Fallaci

For Western countries to side with those who question Israel's legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel's vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values, rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude. Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is lost and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Jose Maria Aznar

Israel is, for us, a normal and a special country. A normal country, because it is just like any other democracy. A special country, because the Jewish culture, which eventually became the Judeo-Christian culture of the dignity of man, is the conceptual foundation of liberalism and democracy. This is why attacking Israel is tantamount to attacking Europe and the West. This is also why disputing Israel's legitimacy and its right to existence means questioning democracy. And this is why we are Friends of Israel. By defending Israel, we are defending ourselves.Marcello Pera

Israel ... is beset today by a unique combination of threats. It must defend its people from attack while defending its very right to exist. No other nation in the world faces this dual challenge. To deny Israel's right to confront some of the world's most vicious terrorist groups in order to ensure the safety of its citizens is to corrode international norms from within ... The assault on Israel is one part of a more general assault on the West, on democracy, and on the moral and cultural heritage that grew from the fruitful interaction of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome ... Should these efforts succeed, similar efforts will certainly be turned against other western democracies.George Weigel

Apart from America itself, Israel still stands as the world's brightest model of national self-liberation based on ideals of individual responsibility and human freedom. Israel's ability to withstand Arab attempts to destroy it in one of the longest and most lop-sided wars ever fought serves as an indelible testimony to the strength of democratic culture.... We know from the past that the West paid dearly for ignoring Hitler's war against the Jews. One can only hope it will not pay as dearly for having ignored or underestimated for so long the Arab war against Israel and the Jews. Ruth Wisse

The choice before us is not between victory and defeat, but between victory and annihilation. We therefore have not the slightest intention of allowing the re-creation of the conditions of vulnerability in which we found ourselves, abandoned and alone, in the summer of 1967. Diplomat Michael Comay (1970)

I am duty-bound to defend freedom, culture, peaceful coexistence, the civic education of children, and all the principles that the Tablets of the Law have rendered universal. Principles which Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. This means that, since I am a Gentile, a journalist and a leftist, I have a triple moral commitment to Israel. Because, if Israel were to be vanquished, modernity, culture and freedom would also be crushed. Even though the world has failed to wake up to this fact, Israel's struggle is the world's struggle. Pilar Rahola

About Me

I'm a writer/researcher, with many academic books and articles under my own name. Daphne Anson is my blogging alias. Combining the names of two ships, it's a moniker of special significance to me - I'm a naval history buff. I use an alias owing to a perceived need to keep my blogging and professional identities separate. An Aussie, I've long been interested in
politics and foreign affairs, having studied International Relations in the USA and Britain for my first degree, and I also hold a doctorate. I began blogging in response to the exponential rise in antisemitism and hostility to Israel in the wake of the Mavi Marmara affair.
Another reason I use an alias: http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2015/08/alias-two-ships-daphne-anson.html

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The spiritual awakening which Jews experienced almost without exception last June must not be allowed to become a sealed and finished episode.... Support must be rallied among men of goodwill and their governments if we are to reach that secure and just peace in the attainment of which Israel has never ceased to believe. President Zalman Shazar (1968)

Our judicial system is one of the best in the whole world. Our democracy is the only one in the Middle East.... Just imagine, what would have happened if the Arabs had, like us, accepted the Partition resolution? There would be a Palestinian State living side by side in peace, security, and, I can add, prosperity with the State of Israel, 62 years later. [C]ome to Israel, and realize how small Israel is and what a wonderful place it is. Diplomat Gabriella Shalev (2010)

Israel's Arab citizens are the only Arabs in the Middle East who enjoy genuine civic and religious rights. Religious freedom is protected in Israel as nowhere else, tragically, in the Middle East. And civil rights, of course, there's a supreme court judge who is an Arab, ministers including in my government who are Arabs, Druze, and members of parliament who are Arabs and so on. I would like to see more involvement of Arabs in civil life.Bibi Netanyahu on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show (5 Nov. 2017)